Deer dance will complement Jade exhibition

What do the environment and a dance have in common? Well nothing unless you’re part of a traditional Mayan cultural group from Otoxha Village in Toledo. Those artists will be performing the ceremonial deer dance tomorrow at the Museum of Belize and according to NICH’s Froyla Tzalam, the performance demonstrates the connection between human beings and the world around us.

Froyla Tzalam, Promoter of the Deer Dance Festival, NICH
?The deer dance of the current dances being performed in Belize is the more light hearted one. For those not familiar with the Cortez dance, that is the story of the Maya conquest by the Spaniards or the Europeans. The deer dance in contrast is a light hearted look at how these three elements are connected: the human beings, the natural world and the supernatural world. So for example you have three sets of dancers. You have the old man and his wife and their dog. They go and they hunt the deer, so among the dancers you will see the deer dance, you will see the jaguar and a third element are the one who are dressed in black. Now the ones dressed in black are the ones who are alien to the concept of interconnectedness. We all know we are dependent on the environment. There is no way out of it. We eat animals. So therefore let us pay homage to them. Let?s not be mercenary towards them and the black dancers in the deer dance are the ones who come in and are completely strip the natural environment of its meaning. It?s completely an asset to them. So it?s a story being told. The story is that if you take care of the environment and if you take care of the animals they will take care of you, but if you don?t we are causing our own destruction.?

The Deer Dance Festival, which runs from eleven a.m. to two in the afternoon, is free of charge and immediately follows the opening of the Jades of Belize exhibit at the Museum of Belize.